CLE

The NBA Historical Committee's CLE Committee produces annual historical CLE seminars that are offered free to the public. These seminars are graciously funded by the Middle District Court's Library Fund. The live seminars are accredited for CLE, and the recordings of each seminar are made available online after the event for no CLE credit. We hope that you enjoy this resource to learn about Nashville legal history.

Click the links below to view the historical seminars online.

NOTE: You will not earn CLE credit by watching the videos online; only the live/in-person courses are accredited.

The cases and lawyers caused one of the greatest reforms in American history without one riot, without one shot being fired in anger and without polarizing the political system. Chief Justice Earl Warren called it “the most vital decision” of his turbulent years on the Court. Baker vs. Carr was the Nashville Bar Association’s finest hour. Its story, one that few know, will be told.

HOFFA! is an in-depth study of the 1962 “Test Fleet” trial and its lasting impact upon Nashville lawyers. In October 1962, the nation’s most powerful labor leader, Teamsters President James R. Hoffa, went on trial in a Nashville federal courtroom: The People vs. Jimmy Hoffa. The labor leader’s Nashville trial became a hornet’s nest of jury rigging, attempted assassination, and tragedy. This on-stage presentation was recorded live at the Nashville Public Main Library, September 17, 2015.

Forty years ago, Tennessee Governor Ray Blanton and scandals in our state government were a national news sideshow. This on-stage presentation was recorded live at the Nashville Public Main Library, November 10, 2016.

On Tuesday, February 25, 1975, the Nashville Police Department had a problem. A nine-year-old Girl Scout in Green Hills was missing and no one seemed to know how it happened. For 33 days the city was in a collective turmoil. Then, on Easter Sunday, March 30, Marcia Trimble's strangled body was found in a neighbor's garage. And the entire city began asking: How did the dogs and searchers miss the body? How long has she been in the garage? When did she die? And the most vexing question of all—who did it?

Nashville's Most Tragic Country Music Murder Case and the Lawyers Who Litigated It. On Saturday night, November 10, 1973, David "Stringbean" Akeman and his wife Estelle returned home after he performed at the Grand Ole Opry. Both were shot dead shortly after their arrival. The killers had waited for hours. Their corpses were discovered the following morning by their neighbor, Grandpa Jones. This on-stage presentation was recorded live at the Nashville Public Main Library on November 8, 2018.